Fired KGO radio talk show host Gene Burns returns to the air Tuesday

Fired KGO radio host Gene Burns returns to the air Tuesday

Update: The Rich Lieberman 415 Media blog reports that Gene Burns suffered a mild stroke and will be replaced this week by former KGO talk hosts:

Tuesday: Dr. Bill Wattenburg

Wednesday: Gil Gross

Thursday: John Rothmann

Friday: Rosie Allen

More on the first day of the Gene Burns show with Bill Wattenburg here.

If you have been listeing to talk radio over the New Year's weekend, you may have heard the promotions for big changes in radio in the San Francisco Francisco Bay Area. Gene Burns fans will be delighted to hear that the changes include him returning to the radio.

“While it has been fun having the holiday month off, I am very anxious to get back to discussing both the issues of the day, and the Good Life on Dining Around,” said Burns in a press release from his new station Newstalk 910 AM. “I am excited to join a creative and energetic group of broadcasters and I am looking forward to January.”

Burns and former KGO host Len Tillem are returning to radio in the Bay Area on a Clear Channel-owned station that is being renamed Newstalk 910 AM. The change is effective on January 3, 2012..

The change will also result in a call-letter swap. The Clear Channel station 960 AM will now have the call letters KNEW and 910 AM will have the call letters KKSF. Clear Channel’s Val Klein told the Examiner.com that the call letter swap was made because the company wanted the letters “SF” to be part of a station that will feature local talk. Starting in the New Year, 960 AM will feature nationally syndicated talk shows.

Klein told the Examiner.com that Clear Channel is very excited about the change and called Burns and Tillem “icons” in the Bay Area. When asked about whether the other KGO radio hosts might find a new home on Newstalk 910 AM, Klein said she could not comment on that and could only say that Burns and Tillem will be part of the station's new lineup. The Len Tillem show is scheduled 3-4 p.m. followed by the Gene Burns show 4-7 p.m.

The changes will mean that Dave Ramsey and Glenn Beck will be heard now on the new KNEW 960. Click here for the new schedule.

On Tuesday, December 20, Tillem told the Examiner.com that his biggest fear is that his KGO callers will not follow him to Newstalk 910 AM

"What makes me good is the callers," Tillem said. "I don't need callers who say 'my dishwasher broke,' I need the caller who says 'Help, my boyfriend is on speed and he stole my bra."

While educating his listeners on legal issues, Tillem is best known for his entertaining comedic style and the hook line, "Why you calling a lawya?"

Tillem and Burns, along with John Rothmann, Ray Taliferro, Gil Gross, Joanie Greggains, and Bill Wattenburg were all fired by the station on December 1 as part of a KGO radio format change from news talk to mostly news with talk only overnights and weekends. Weekend talkers Karel, Brian Copeland, Pat Thurston and John Hamilton were all kept on. Moneytalk host Bob Brinker had originally been on KGO radio's new schedule, but he is now off. Ronn Owens, who hosts 9 a.m. -noon, is being kept on.

Bill Wattenburg's reaction to the KGO shakeup here.

Click here for more on the change and KGO’s reasons for the format switch. Bill Wattenburg (AKA Dr. Bill) has already been on Santa Cruz-based station KSCO as a substitute host More on that in this link.

Newstalk 910 AM was previously called Fox News Radio. The new station will continue to be hosted 6-9 a.m. by the very successful libertarian-leaning Armstrong and Getty Show hosted by Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. The Armstrong and Getty show is being shortened by one hour. The show had been broadcast 6-10 a.m. The station’s new schedule, posted below, says that in the New Year, a “to be announced” program will run 9 a.m. to noon. The station has been teasing that "America's Anchorman" will be in its new lineup. Rush Limbaugh has used that title for years but Clear Channel has not confirmed that Limbaugh wil be moving from KSFO to Newstalk 910 AM. KSFO has also been teasing that there will be big changes on its station.

In a press release Clear Channel says, “The station will feature a wide variety of topics and opinions. Newstalk 910 AM will take a sharp, poignant and sometimes hilarious approach to covering local and national politics, money and social issues, technology, trends, pop culture and entertainment. Newstalk 910 AM will broadcast live every weekday from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m.”

“We are moving Newstalk 910 into the forefront of the talk genre in the Bay Area,” said Don Parker, Director of Operations, Clear Channel San Francisco. “With the addition of Bay Area

legend Gene Burns and ‘Radio Lawyer’ Len Tillem to the line-up, we are very excited about the future.”

Newstalk 910 (910 AM) Line-Up effective January 3, 2012:

6-9 a.m. The Armstrong & Getty Show

9 a.m.-noon To Be Announced (but probably Rush Limbaugh)

noon-3 p.m. The Tom Sullivan Show

3-4 p.m. The Len Tillem Show

4-7 p.m. The Gene Burns Program

If your are out of the Bay Area or don’t have a radio handy, you can listen online at Talk910.comas well as on iHeartRadio.com and Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio mobile app.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Clear Channel operates KIOI-FM, KISQ-FM, KKSF-AM, KMEL-FM, KNEW-AM, KOSFFM,

and KYLD-FM.

What do you think about the changes at KGO radio and the firings of Gene Burns, Len Tillem, Ray Taliaferro and Gil Gross? Leave your comments below.